1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to emergency locator and communication beacons and more specifically to a method of providing additional identification information to emergency services about emergency locator beacons.
2. Description of Related Art
The Cospas-Sarsat international satellite system has been operational for many years and is well known. Its sole purpose is to provide emergency distress alerting capability from an aircraft, vessel or individual in distress to relevant emergency services, via a one way satellite communications network. The system employs three types of emergency locator beacons known as Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) all operating in the 406.0 to 406.1 MHz frequency band. Each of these beacons transmits a digital message containing digital data that includes the unique identity of the beacon. The format of this digital message is defined in international standards and is comprised of a number of different data fields, each of which contains different data depending on the particular message format of which there are a number to address differing administrations and equipment requirements.
The system is unique in that it is truly global and is run by various governments for the benefit of all and sends emergency distress alerts directly to the relevant government authority responsible for rescue efforts (e.g. US Coastguard) around the world. The Cospas-Sarsat system provides a one way communications link between a beacon and one or more Cospas-Sarsat satellites. The Cospas-Sarsat satellites are in communication with one or more dispatchers who are responsible for routing a distress signal from a beacon to the appropriate first responders who carry out the rescue efforts. Specifically, the Cospas-Sarsat satellites receive a distress signal and route the distress signal to one or more receiving and processing stations called LUTs, or local user terminals. The LUTs generate distress alert data which is then communicated to a Mission Control Center (MCC) whereby the MCC then routes instructions and information to localized Rescue Coordination Centers (RCC). The RCCs are then responsible for facilitating the coordination of the rescue efforts. While the Cospas-Sarsat system is effective, it is limited in that it only provides for one way communication, i.e. from the beacon to the responders, which can result in the omission of vital information to aid the rescue effort for the person(s) in distress as well as for the responders.
More recently, commercial satellite communication systems utilizing both one way (remote user to satellite ground station only (e.g. Globalstar SPOT) or satellite ground station to remote user only (e.g. Sirius XM radio)) and two way communications have become more common and have started to be used for both emergency distress alerting and general day to day communications. These satellite communication systems are particularly useful in locations where cellular telephone antennas cannot be placed and/or where cellular telephone reception is low or non-existent. Satellite communications systems have been tailored for emergency communications through the adoption and use of Satellite Emergency Notification Devices (SENDs). Globalstar SPOT is one example of a one way version of such a device and the DeLorme InReach device is one example of a two way version of such a device. Typically, a satellite communication system operates by creating a one-way or two-way communications link between a satellite telephone or SEND and a commercial communications satellite. The commercial communications satellite may comprise the Iridium satellite system already established in the art. The communications satellite is further in communication with a satellite gateway whereby the gateway is in communication with one or more computer servers. The computer servers typically have connects to the internet, cellular telephone systems, or standard land-line telephone systems thereby allowing the satellite phone or SEND user to communicate with a plurality of other devices by way of a plurality of communications systems. In some instances, the computer servers may be in communication with a particularized commercial emergency response call center that carries out specific emergency rescue operations should the satellite phone or SEND use request them or by the pressing of an “emergency” key on his device.
There are several advantages of SEND devices compared to 406 MHz beacons in that the SEND devices permit communications other than pure emergency distress alerting and thus can be used on a regular basis to remain in communication even when outside of an area of cellular phone coverage. In addition, SEND devices can be used to track and report on the location of the remote person as well through the use of internal GPS receivers typically found in a SEND device. In addition, because SEND devices and satellite telephones permit two-way communications, in an emergency situation some of the satellite devices can provide to the user additional information on the emergency and rescue efforts and some can even permit communication with the person in distress by voice, data, or text message.
However, SEND devices also suffer from some disadvantages compared to 406 MHz beacons in that the SEND devices currently have to forward distress alerts to a commercial emergency call center (e.g. a 911 call center) and this call center then has to communicate with the relevant emergency services. It is then difficult for the relevant emergency services to communicate backwards and forwards with the person in distress because the system is not cohesively and centrally established for emergency and rescue efforts.
Further still, while both the 406 MHz beacons and SEND systems have built in redundancy to allow for outages in parts of the system, each system is still dependent upon a single communications system that may break down or become unreliable in what can often be a life threatening situation.
FIG. 1 demonstrates an improved system which is a combination of a 406 systems and a SEND system, referred to as a 406-SEND system. The system combines the radio frequency emergency alerting benefits of the Cospas-Sarsat system and the two-way communications benefits of a satellite-based SEND system. This combination provides a world class distress alerting system over the Cospas-Sarsat network together with both a secondary system of distress alerting over commercial satellite systems, permitting government agencies to communicate with the person in distress as well as receive robust emergency distress signals. The functionality of this combined system is described and claimed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/772,799 and 13/772,780 to which the present application claims priority and of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.
In order for the operator of emergency services to communicate back to the person in distress using the SEND part of the device, the operator must first know the unique identity of the SEND part of the device. Often times, the unique identity is established as an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, which is typically not a part of the 406 distress alert transmission. A 406 beacon transmits a 406 identifier along with distress signals. The format of the beacon identifier is established by international standards. The 406 beacon identifier signal consists of a number of different data fields, each of which contains different data depending on the particular message format. In some embodiments, the fields comprise a Country Code field, a Beacon Serial Number field, a Meacon MMSI field (used to indicate the number of the vessel upon which an EPIRB is fitted), a Beacon Aircraft Tail Number field (used to indicate the aircraft on which an ELT is installed) and the like. The information in these data fields is used by an operator at emergency services to assist in a rescue mission and to help eliminate a false alert whenever a beacon is activated by mistake.
Having an operator that is able to communicate with the person in distress is a great advantage in the event of a distress situation or even in the case where a false alert has been generated. However, in order to do this, the operator at emergency services must know the identity of the SEND part of the user's emergency beacon, which identity information is not typically transmitted in the 406 Cospas-Sarsat system. Therefore, the most practical way to provide the identity of the SEND part of the user's system is to include the identity information with the 406 beacon identifier information so that both 406 beacon identity and SEND identity information are sent to the emergency services at the same time. However, the existing 406 beacon system message signal digital data structure does not provide enough free or spare data bits to enable SEND identity information to be included with the 406 beacon signal. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to solve this problem by finding a way to include SEND identity information with the 406 emergency beacon system information in light of the limited space available in the data stream of the 406 system beacon emergency signal transmissions.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed. However, in view of the emergency beacons and related systems in existence at the time of the present invention, it was not obvious to those persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art as to how the identified needs could be fulfilled in an advantageous manner.